Memoirs and morsels from home and abroad

kosher french chorizo

Yup. You heard me right. It’s like a whole bunch of oxymorons rolled into one.

Let’s just start from the end and work our way backwards.

Chorizo, a pork sausage. Recipes for homemade chorizo abound, but the image that most often springs to mind is spicy sausage, encased in I don’t even want to know what. Usually spiced with a combination of garlic and peppers, this sausage has its local variations and can be purchased fresh (requiring cooking) or fermented and cured, the former more often in South America, the latter most often in Europe. Mine is from France (and I can’t tell you how I got it!), so it’s the cured version. And meant to be sliced for sandwiches (or thrown atop salads). Clearly my kosher variety is made with beef instead of pork.

For no good reason, I have been holding onto this lovely quasi-contradiction in my fridge for a few months (as a cured meat, it can last quite a while). And then…something struck…and I had to eat some meat (this might sound a little familiar) and I had to have it right then.

Eager to taste this rare delicacy (rare in the kosher world, that is) that I had heard so much about, I dug in with my knife and made a little dinner. I found that, lacking a deli slicer, my bread knife was the next best option. Thinking about cinco de mayo next week, I threw together a quick guac of avocado, grated onion, grated tomato, fresh cilantro, lime juice, salt, and cumin, slathered it on some lavash, added baby greens, spread out my treasured chorizo, and rolled everything up.

I ate the wrap standing over the cutting board. No plate. No napkin. Nothing. But you’ll keep my little secret, right?

Jess – HE-llo right back at you! Glad you appreciate the “cheesey” chorizo heart!

Elisha – The only place I can reliably suggest getting this meat is Le Marais in NY — check out their charcuterie menu (http://lemarais.net/pdf/front_back_butcher%20list.pdf) — I’d gladly place an order with you since I’m sure it’ll cost a pretty penny to ship up here, or you (or I) might pick some meat up on a trip to the City. Dried meat travels well and doesn’t even need refrigeration. On the topic of good kosher sausages (but I don’t believe they’re dried) — check out Jeff’s in LA — http://www.jeffsgourmet.com/ – they also ship. A good veggie option that I have read about and is supposed to be a very good (KSA, parve) chorizo substitute is called Soyrizo (http://www.elburrito.com/soyrizo.html). Hope this helps.

Kosher chorizo is totally legit- whoever said it had to be made with pork, anyway? Thanks for the great preparation idea, too.

P.S. I tried the Soyrizo type stuff from Trader Joe’s. It was pretty good, considering there was no other alternative, but it fell apart quickly perhaps because there wasn’t enough fat to hold the meat together???